I realized that I've talked already so much about this chapter that I omitted writing a chapter post.

Anyways, my heart is very full now, because my year-long pain finally got answered and Shouto got emotional support - and even though it was just a one-page long scene, it was perfect with every way. This journey. These parallels. This joke. With these people. A laugh and smile. Whatever else happens, we'll always have this. TDBK friendship canon. Q.E.D.

You mean there were other things in this chapter? Moving on.

Does it ever drive you crazy….

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal was all “please tell Midoriya that I spent a concerningly small amount of money upgrading U.A. into a wacky physics-defying funtime grid so as to make the final battle much more confusing for everyone.” Present Day!Mic (or Present!Mic, if you will) and Jeanist were all “if only somebody could deescalate this dangerously unhinged mob, we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Ochako was all “LISTEN UP PEOPLE.” The mob was all, “god??” Ochako was all, “NO, IT’S ME, OCHAKO. I’M REALLY HIGH UP ON THIS BUILDING AND THE VISIBILITY IS LOW DUE TO THE RAIN, SO I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT MISTAKE. ANYWAYS, DEKU WAS OUT THERE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOU CLOWNS EVEN THOUGH HE’S JUST A KID, SO I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ALL REMEMBER HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, THANKS.” Let’s see if her Big Scolding Energy has any impact.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “so I have this speech planned out, and it’s really good, but it also only really needs about 6 to 8 pages, but I’m gonna see if I can stretch it out to 17 pages so I can kill time before we get to the next volume cliffhanger two weeks from now.” Anyway but it really is a good speech though. There are feels, and tears, and more talk about how Deku is so in need of a shower that just looking at him requires a tetanus booster, and more feels, and more tears, and bonus ship drama, and an iconic callback to the very first chapter which reframes the entire series in a new context in a totally epic and moving way, and it’s all very good. Except that Horikoshi is determined to never let anyone actually give this kid a hug. Who hurt you, dude.

a.k.a. yet another meta dissection of The Apology. I actually wrote most of this up on Friday night based on the original Japanese (@pikahlua​ has an excellent translation up here, and I also used @hanashimas’ translations as a reference as well), but I wanted to wait until the official release, though that turned out to be a mixed bag to say the least lol.

I would also recommend reading @pikahlua​ and @class1akids​’ breakdowns of this scene (here and here, respectively), because they are excellent, and because if any scene deserves to have as many meta breakdowns written about it as possible, it’s this one.

anyway so here goes.

Previously on BnHA: Endeavor was all, “Kirishima please take Hagakure and Aoyama and put them away somewhere out of sight until we’re finally ready for the U.A. Traitor Plot.” Shouto was all “HEY DEKU DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT MAYBE YOU WANDERING THE STREETS LOOKING LIKE A GOTH PRAYING MANTIS IS EXACTLY WHAT AFO WANTS.” Deku was all “I’M SORRY I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY CRUSHING MATYR COMPLEX AND ACCUMULATED TRAUMA.” Mineta was all “HEY DEKU YOU SWEET THANG, IF I COULD REARRANGE THE ALPHABET I’D PUT ‘U’ AND ‘I’ TOGETHER, ANYWAYS HMU 💖”, or at least that’s what fandom apparently thought he said. Everyone was all “WELL SINCE WE’RE BACK HERE IN KAMINO WE SHOULD DO THE THING” and did the whole “launching someone into the air to save someone by dramatically grabbing their hand” thing that everybody fucking loves to do in Kamino so damn much. Iida was all “[bombards me and Deku with feels].” Deku was all, “ू(ʚ̴̶̷́ .̠ ʚ̴̶̷̥̀ ू).” I was all, “(;*△*;).” Horikoshi was all, “my work here is done.”

Today on BnHA: 

oh my god.

The wild teenagers are investigating their new habitat.

And Todoroki is wearing a mask to cover his identity to other patients, even if the whole hospital and Japan already known his whole family is there. 

I still can’t get over heroes masks, I CAN’T. PEOPLE  B U Y  THESE, AND WEAR THEM. 

Also, the headcanon of Todoroki having a celebrity crush in Hawks, and Hawks finding that the most funny shit ever, hit me hard.

ame ni mo makezu

(be not defeated by the rain)

Previously on BnHA: Endeavor tried to talk some sense into Deku but failed on account of having the charisma of an automated voice contacting you about your car’s extended warranty. The Vestiges were all “well he’ll at least have to listen to us because we’re literally disembodied voices kicking around in his head.” Deku was all “[doesn’t listen to the Vestiges].” The Vestiges were all, “( ⁍᷄⌢̻⁍᷅ ).” Deku was all “why is everyone so afraid of me, I wonder if it’s because I look like the Cloverfield monster tried to transform into a werewolf and got stuck halfway.” Some puppet guy was all “hey there, I’m just here to cause trouble for two seconds before getting my ass kicked.” Back in OFA Land: Galaxy’s Edge, OFA Dos was all, “you know what you guys, I bet I know who Deku will listen to.” Fandom was all, “wait, I know this one… it’s Toga, isn’t it.” Anyway so yeah, welcome back, Toga.

Today on BnHA: FLASHBACK TO U.A. AHHHHHHH. KACCHAN AND SHOUTO AND OCHAKO AND IIDA AND RAT PRINCIPAL AHHHH. Kacchan is all “let me get this straight, these assholes really let Deku run off on his own under the so-called supervision of the three fucking stooges and the guilt-ridden skeleton man??” and spends the next several days painstakingly explaining this concept to escalating levels of management until he finally gets approval to go out and fix the situation. The other kids are all “what he said” and join in too. Back in the present day, Deku is all, “thanks guys, but you see, I’m actually fine (•_•) so yeah, uh… ah fuck who am I kidding, we’re gonna have a fucking throwdown aren’t we.” Right you are, Deku. Happy anniversary kids.

Previously on BnHA: The Hawksquad+Lurkers were all “well this sucks” and sat around a bit talking about how maybe they should actually come up with a new plan that is actually good, but then in the end they were like “nah.” Deku was all, “THERE’S SOMETHING INSIDE ME THAT PULLS BENEATH THE SURFACE!! CONSUMING, CONFUSING!! THIS LACK OF SELF CONTROL I FEAR IS NEVERENDING. IT’S HAUNTING HOW I CANT SEEM TO FIND MYSELF AGAIN. MY WALLS ARE CLOSING IN.” Just, literally that whole entire song. All Might was all “Deku you should take care of yourself, try eating a thing,” and Deku was all “BYE, ALL MIGHT,” and just LEFT. He left!!! What the fuck!!!

Today on BnHA: Endeavor is all, “maybe if Deku didn’t listen to All Might he’ll listen to me instead.” Deku is all, “[doesn’t listen to Endeavor]” because, well, yeah. The Vestiges are all, “surprisingly, even we are a little concerned – maybe you should get some rest, kid.” Deku is all, “((Ò ‸ Ó)).” The Vestiges are all, “holy shit.” Deku is all, “[wanders the ruined city streets terrifying the populace on account of him looking like Shelob had a baby with one of the Nazgul].” Some shriveled-up puppeteer villain asshole is all, “HORIKOSHI SAID IT’S MY TURN TO ATTACK DEKU TODAY SO I AM GOING TO SUMMON MY FRIGHTENED HELPLESS ATTACK MOB!!” Kacchan is all “WHADDYA MEAN THEY FOUND THE NERD!!! – oh wait, that’s me, I found him. I found the nerd, you guys.” And just in time, too. I was about to owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of dollars.

full disclosure, the title of this post is clickbait lol. this isn’t really a post about Bakugou; this is a post about Horikoshi and about the manga-writing process.

anyway, so I just wanted to talk a little bit about the reason why this latest arc has felt so extremely rushed in places. I know there’s been a fair amount of criticism directed at Horikoshi’s latest editor, and there’s also been a lot of speculation about Horikoshi himself being worn down or sick and/or otherwise just not feeling himself. however I think there’s another explanation for all this. and the good news is that if I’m right, we might see Horikoshi return back to form in these next few upcoming chapters.

so before I start, let me just quickly say that on the whole, I have very much enjoyed this latest arc, and I think that Horikoshi was very successful in achieving what he set out to do, which was to slowly bring Deku’s character to this current place where his fears and burdens have transformed him into this dark version of himself which is so strikingly different from the hero he originally set out to be. I also really enjoyed the battle with Nagant, all of the delicious angst, and of course this last chapter especially which broke my heart in about a dozen different ways.

but that all said, the fact that I’ve enjoyed this arc doesn’t mean I’m blind to its flaws. and they are there, and there are quite a few of them, and I think it’s fair for people to point them out as many have been doing. a lot of this arc’s developments have felt very hurried. the pacing has felt very out-of-whack, and a lot of things have just felt abrupt, with next to no build-up. hence why the new editor is taking a lot of the blame, honestly.

however, I’m pretty sure that it’s not his editor’s fault. if you really want to know whose fault it is, brace yourselves lol.

yep. Bakugou Katsuki, in all his rising glory.